


Shattered Trust

by Puddingbrezel



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: F/M, Reader-Insert, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-02-08
Updated: 2014-04-17
Packaged: 2018-01-11 14:54:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 14,171
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1174415
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Puddingbrezel/pseuds/Puddingbrezel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He had left you to die. He was the only person you ever loved and cared for and he had left you all alone. He was also the reason why you threw away all you emotions- except hatred. You loathed him for leaving you like that and you were longing for vengeance. And you were going to take it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

_"Did you hear that sound when you left me? Do you want to know what it was? That was my trust in you shattering into tiny pieces when you didn't come back and kept your promise!"_

 

Blood rained down on you after you cut through the taller man's throat. Your now bloody knife was still in your hand. You didn't feel anything exept perhaps a little disgusted because of the blood in your hair. You didn't feel guilty for killing the man. The first time you killed, you felt terrible after you'd done it but now you were used to it. He may have had family -a wife and children- waiting for him to come home but you couldn't care less. They'd have to deal with it. You had learned a long time ago that getting attached to people will just hurt you. And that was why you abondoned your feelings. Socialising and living in groups was for those people who were too weak to survive on their own. You obviously weren't. You could take down a man much taller than you. It was something you learned after living in the underground city.  
It was a place full of thugs and criminals. It was dark, dirty and utterly filthy. You hated living here but what could you possibly do to change that? Of course you could go above ground, but where should you go then? You were a criminal and had dirty and simple clothes you'd stick out of the mass too much. The pigs from the military police would spot you right away and you'd be thrown into jail. No thanks, your little freedom was one of the few things you had left.

You turned to the bloody man now lying on the ground who had previously tried to catch you. He wore a military uniform with that stupid green unicorn on it. People said that those who were part of the military police were the elite but he was easy to take down. The man had some money with him that you took, perhaps you could buy some food, new weapons or even a new gear with it. Your 3DMG was in a pretty bad shape and you wondered how long it would last before it wouldn't be of any use anymore.  
You turned away from the scene and walked out of the narrow alleyway. There were few people on the streets. You couldn't blame those who chose to stay inside. It's not like it was nice outside. As mentioned before it was dirty and it smelled horrible. There were puddles of sewer water on the ground. The underground city was dangerous and little light shone through the small holes in the ceiling.  
You realized that your knife was still in your hand and wiped the blood off it with the hem of your shirt. It didn't matter your shirt was stained with blood anyway. You then put your knife back into your right boot, where you kept it. You also had one in your left boot and a sword strapped on your back. You never knew when you'd need it. It was always a possibility that someone jumped out of of a side street and attacked you. Or you'd have to fight one of those stupid police officers again.

You started to head home. The place you lived in was a small house in one of the many dark corners of the city. The only entrance was a door to a narrow alley that happened to be a dead end. It was a good thing since noone would go to that place of their own free will and disturb you.  
You opened the wooden door which was hidden in the shadows of the surrounding buildings and were immedietly greeted by the sight of your living room. The small space was occupied with a table and two chairs made out of wood. In one corner of the room stood a bed with only a blanket and no pillow. On the opposite side of the room was what could be considered a kitchen. It could not be compared to what the people above ground had to cook at but it was enough for you. Next to the entrance was a closet in which you kept all you belongings, though they only filled half of the room in it. The space on the last wall was filled with a bookcase, which of course was mostly empty, and another door that lead to the small bathroom.  
Your home could not be considered clean but compared to the streets outside it was nearly sparkling.  
You made you way to the bathroom to wash your hair, face and shirt. You didn't enjoy being full of bloodstains. It was disgusting to have all that blood sticking to your face and hair. When you had cleaned yourself you ate dinner. Not like you could call an old hard loaf of bread dinner but it would have to do.  
After some small preparations you were off to bed.  
You dreamed of your childhood.  
You were with a raven haired boy who was your best -and only- friend. He was the only person you ever cared about since your family had abondoned you before you reached the age of four. The five years older boy had found you crying on the streets and helped you. He also was the one who taught you how to pickpocket and fight.  
You were seven years old in your dream. It was one of the times your friend had taught you fighting technics and how to rely on your small statue to win since you'd never be able to bring down a man with your little strenght alone. Till now you relied on your speed and stealth in fights.

You woke up and tried to forget about your dream you didn't want to remember him. He was the only person you ever loved and he left you all alone in the end. And how you hated him for that. He had promised you he'd come back and teach you about the world above ground but he never did. You had waited eight months for his return. Everyday in those eight months had you gone to the place he told you you two would meet up at. And eight fucking months had he not come. With each passing day during that time you hope of him coming back to you had shrunk and finally disappeared. It now was a little more than a year that he left you and you were currently ten years old.  
You were quite the skilled fighter for your age, not only were you good barehanded or with weapons but you could also use the 3dmg with ease, even though it was said to require years of hard training to master it.  
You finally managed to free your mind from the thoughts about him and got out of bed. After you had properly clothed yourself you took all the money you owned and put on your harness. You then made sure your 3dmg was at the right places and wouldn't fall off. Lastly you left your home to never return again.

You had made up your mind: You would finally leave this hellhole and try to find a way to Wall Rose and live there. You were sure there were enough people living there who you could steal from. You'd only have to manage to get out of Wall Sina without getting spotted. It would be easy when you'd stay in the shadows of the alleys and only traveled at night. You could see the orange-reddish rays of the sun through the holes in the ceiling, which meant that the sun was going down. It was time for you to leave and never come or even look back.


	2. Chapter 2

You made your way through the city you intended to leave behind you. You soon arrived at your destination: under a hole in the ceiling that was big enough for you to easily maneuver through. You could have taken a smaller one, but this one was nearer to the gate and you didn't want risking to damage your already overused gear.  
With great care you shot your hooks at the edge of the hole above you and pulled the trigger. You soon were pulled up into the air. The slighty cloudy sky came nearer and nearer and it was getting darker and darker outside by any minute. You probably would be able to see some stars shining already if it were not for the clouded sky.  
You landed around 50cm away from the small hole without making a sound. Quickly you looked around and ran into an alley, just in case someone would come and spot you. You had to be extremely careful now. You tried to listen for footsteps or any other noises which would signal that there was another human being near.  
Since you didn't hear anything you relaxed a bit and started looking around.  
Not too far away you could see the gigantic walls. Until now you had only heared about them but now that you could actually take a look at them you realized that they were by far taller than what you had imagined.

You shook your head to rid your thoughts of the walls. You had to stay focused on the situation at hand now. One mistake could easily cost you your freedom or in the worst case your life and you were certain that you did not want that.  
You started to take in your surroundings again, eyeing everything carefully to watch out for any potential dangers. You were still in the side street. One end ended in the small street with the hole you came from and the other was a dead end.  
Seeing no other option than to travel over the rooftops, which would just attract too much attention, you decided to peek around the corner into the small street. Like you had expected it was completely empty but you couldn't let your guard down because of that.  
You looked at the big ass walls again to make sure you'd be traveling in the direction of the gate now. Carefully you started to run into the next near alley. Luckily this one was not a dead end and you'd be able to travel through the narrow side streets for now.  
After you rounded some corners you started to hear some voices. As quickly as possible you looked around for the best spot to hide. You then decided to use some crates as your hiding place.  
Your heart was beating fast and you tried to calm your breathing as the voices came nearer and nearer. You hoped that they wouldn't see you. It's not like you couldn't kill them of easily but sooner or later someone would notice the corpses and you'd most likely be easy to track down because of the trace the blood on your clothes would leave behind.  
You felt really relieved when the two conversing persons passed the alleyway you were in. Even though they had passed the alley you waited 'till you could only faintly hear their footsteps. Better be careful now than to regret not being it later. The rest of your way to the gate was easy enough: you managed to stay hidden in the depths of the shadows and didn't encounter another human. After you peeked around the corner of another street the gate was finally in sight.

But now it was time for the hard part: how would you get past the police officer guarding the gate?  
An idea started forming in your mind and you looked around for anything you could probably make noise with. That was when you saw the trash cans in another side street opposite of the one you were in right now. Fate seemed to be on your side since you also found some stones. You begann throwing them at the trash can and the noise of the stone hitting the metallic surface was enough to attract the officers attention. He left his post and began walking towards the trash can.  
That was when you decided to make your next move: you sprinted as fast as you could in the direction of the gate and through it.  
The police officer had noticed you passing him by and tried to chase you but by the time he reached the gate you had already hidden yourself on the other side and he gave up. It was probably too much work to go search for you, well that's the military police for you.  
When you were sure the officer didn't care about you anymore you started to slowly walk through your new surroundings. You felt freer than you ever had before! You were inside a forest next to a town. The buildings did not look as fancy as those in Sina did but everything was better than those from the place you came from. The sky had cleared up while you were not paying attention to it since you were too focused on your escape out of Wall Sina.  
Never before did you have such a good sight of the sky! Until now you had always been caged in that underground city and had seen the beautiful stars only through the small holes. You looked in awe at how beautiful the moon was. For those who had been living above ground it was something completely normal but for you, someone who had never set a foot above ground before it was a completely new and overhelming experience. You enjoyed every moment of it from how it felt when the fresh soft breeze gently carressed your hair and skin to how nice it smelled inside this rather big forest. You bend down to touch the soft green grass. You had seen grass before but never that much of it. All you knew were small specks of it here and there but now it was covering the ground for as far as you could look.  
After you had taken in all these new things you decided it would be time for you to continue traveling. You still had a long way to go if you wanted to reach a place where you'd be sure that you could live there without the fear a police officer might find you and send you to jail. You didn't want to lose your freedom now that you knew how good it felt.  
After some more hours of walking you grew tired and decided to climb a tree and rest on it. You'd have to find something to eat and drink when you woke up but you didn't care about that right now. All you wanted to do was rest your sore and tired muscles. The soft rustling of the leaves from the trees lulled you to sleep.

You woke to the rays of sun shining through the leaves and the birds chirping a happy tune. Judging from the sun it was around midday now which meant that you hadn't eaten a proper meal for a day or so. And you could feel how your stomach begged you to be filled but that would have to wait until you actually managed to obtain some food.  
Thinking about your possible course of action now you settled on walking straight until you found a small town or something like that. You hoped you would find one soon and fate seemed to not be a total bitch to you. After an our or so you spotted a village. Perhaps you would be able to obtain food there on one way or another, so you continued heading in that particular direction.  
On your way you remembered something important: It was forbidden for those, who were not soldiers to possess and use a 3dmg. Not that you cared for the law or anything but it would be rather troublesome if someone would notice that you had and wore one. After you thought about it for a short amount of time you decided on just leaving the gear there. You couldn't sell it on the blackmarket nor could you keep it so it was best to just dispose of it.

You continued your way without the extra weight on your hips. You had kept the harness though since you wore a cloak and they it could not be seen anyway.  
When you arrived at the village you noticed how lively it was for its size. Men were working, women were talking to each other most likely gossiping, saleswomen were trying to get others to buy their goods and children were playing at the side of the street. It was diffrent from what you were used to but that was nothing new. You had not been out of the underground for a full day yet but had already seen so many new and exciting things.  
You stomach reminded you that it wanted to be filled with a low growl. Sighing you made you way to a bakery to purchase some bread. After you had taken a bite out of it you instantly felt better. It tasted way better than any bread you had eaten until now, maybe that was because you had only gotten your hands on old and hard bread. After you had filled your stomach you decided to buy a bit more bread to take with you on your travels. After all you didn't know when you would find the next small town or how long it'd take you to reach it.  
When you continued your way through the peaceful village you saw someone selling containers for water or other liquids. They'd be useful on your journey but they were also quite expensive... You throught about stealing one but decided against it. Instead you bought one. There went half of your money. But the guy had been nice enough to tell you about a small river a little outside the village, where you could clean yourself, drink and fill up you container. Seeing as that was the best thing to do right now you went along with the idea of going there.  
It didn't take long to find what the man had been talking about. Before you was a small river with various flowers growing along it. You went up the stream until you were quite far from the village before you started to fill up your container and drinking from it. Your next action was unclothing yourself. First was your cloak then the harness. After that followed the boots your pants and shirt. Taking your shirt with you you stepped into the water and immediatly a shiver ran down your spine due to the cold. But the feeling of water running along your feet and ankles was nice and you proceeded further before starting to clean yourself and your shirt. The shirt was as clean as it would get and next were the pants. You would wait with washing your cloak so that you had something to wear while waiting for your other clothes to dry.  
It took you until evening to wash the dirt out of your clothes and let them dry in the sun. After you were properly clothed again you ate another loaf of bread for dinner and made sure to gather all your belongings. Finally you decided to sleep.

It had been around three weeks since you left the underground city. You now had arrived in the Trost district and decided on staying there. The place you were currently living in was a small abondoned house at the edge of the rather large city. You bought everything you needed in order to live with money you pickpocketed from people. You even managed to get your hands on a new 3dmg though you hardly used it for obvious reasons.  
You often spend your days in the local library reading all kinds of books. You really liked that place, after all it was quiet and not a lot people came there. You may interact more with people than you did when you lived underground but that didn't mean that you liked them or enjoyed conversing with them. The fact that you were a lone wolf and that you hated humans did not change at all, though you did kind of befriend a cat. Animals were the way better creatures to you. They would stay by your side and be there for you when you needed them but didn't rely on you too much.  
It was just a normal more or less peaceful day when news spread like a wildfire: Wall Maria had fallen. From that day on live was getting harder and harder for you since humanity had lost a lot of its land and had to face a food shortage. Bread was getting way more expensive. Somehow you still managed to pull through and stay alive.

Two years had quickly passed and you were now twelve years old. You had decided to take a walk when you heard that the scouting legion was going to go outside the walls again. You had never actually seen them until now nor had you cared about them so you decided to at least take a look at them for once. You were standing bored in the crowd when you heard something that caught your interest.  
"Look it's Captain Levi -humanity's strongest!"  
It was the name of the person who abondoned you, the one who left you there to die and also the one you hated most. You looked around in case you could actually spot said person. And there he was -riding on the back of his black horse between other soldiers. You stare morphed into a death glare. If you could you would probably attack him right then and there but you figured it would be a bad idea. Instead you continued to stare at him with the most hateful glare. He didn't seem fazed at all and you actually doubted he had taken notice you.  
It was then that you realized something. He had left you to join the military. _The fucking military_. He had always told you how he lowly he thought of them and then he had left you to die and joined their ranks to live a nice life above ground. You doubted it was even possible but your hatred towards him grew with each passing second.

That was when you decided on something: You would join the military to take your revenge and make sure his life from the day he saw you again would be worse than hell.


	3. Chapter 3

It wasn't long after you had set your mind on your new goal in life that the military started recruiting new soldiers. You enlisted of course though you kind of lied about some of your personal information. You had told them your name was (f/n) (l/n), your first name was right but you didn't have a last one, so you just made something up. You also told them you were from Trost which was only partly true. Sure you had spent the last two years of your life there but you couldn't ignore the fact that you were originally from the underground capital -a place you did not want to remember.

After you had enlisted they had given you your uniform and told you to ride on a cart with the other trainees to the training grounds. It was an uncomfortable ride because there was not enough place for all the people who were supposed to fit in. Luckily nobody had intruded too much of your personal space thanks to your deadly glare which seemed to have scared them away.

Right after you got off the cart you were told to line up for the rite of passage. After you were standing in the sun for about twenty minutes a bald old man came who introduced himself as Keith Shardis -the instructor. He did not look happy. Not at all. His glare was enough for some to shiver with fear. You however were not affected by his intimidating looks at all. You had grown up in the underground where various criminals roamed, why should you be afraid of a soldier?

Keith then began going along the lines of recruits stopping once in a while to ask them their name, were they were from and what goals they had in mind. And by asking them I mean shouting at them so that even the last rows could hear each and every word clearly.  
There were many who wanted to join the military police. You couldn't blame them living an easy and comfortable life must be nice. Your thoughts were interrupted when the instructor stopped in front of you.

"WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?"  
You saluted before you answered calmly.  
"(f/n) (l/n), from Trost district."  
Your faces were mere inches apart.  
"WHAT ARE YOU HERE FOR?"

Now you had a slight problem. You couldn't possibly tell him that you wanted to make the life of humantity's strongest soldier hell itself. So you just told him the next best thing that came to your mind.

"To join the Survey Corps and aid to mankind's victory, sir." You smoothly lied to him still keeping your cool. He seemed statisfied with your answer since he left you without another word and and started shouting at the next trainee.

After the the instructor was done with shouting at everyone, you had some hours of free time which you used to get to know your new surroundings better. There were five buildings in total: the dorms for the male trainees, the ones for the female trainees, the dorms from the higher-ups, the mess hall with kitchen and the house where they kept whatever things were needed for training. Then there was the large open area in which you had to line up. It was probably where many of the training sessions were held at.

After you had taken a look around the campus it was time for dinner so you made your way to the hall where everyone would eat together. When you entered the room you noticed that there were a lot of small groups of people conversing with each other. You grapped your food and went to sit alone at an unoccupied table. There was another person who was sitting alone in the room. It was a blond girl with a stare that just screamed for everyone to stay away from her.

You couldn't understand the others and you did not want to. Socializing was something unnecessairy. So you just continued to stare at everyone and ate your food in silence.

When dinner was over eveyone went to their bunks and decided who would sleep in which bed. You were lucky since you did not have to share a bed with someone. You had probably scared them away with a glare that was just as intimidating as Commander Shardis'. It made you uncomfortable to sleep with other people in one room. Who knows what they could do to you while you were asleep? You didn't enjoy sleeping in the least bit because you were vulnerable and unable to do anything while you were asleep. After some time however sleep managed to consume you and you drifted off into dreamland.

The next morning you had to get up quite early. It took you some time to get dressed because you were still sleepy. You were swift in putting the harness on while the others proved to have difficulties. After you had put on your boots you were out the door and on your way to the mess hall for breakfast. It consisted of bread, butter and some tea which was not much but more than you were used to. And again you were sitting at your table alone while the others were talking and having fun with each other.

After the meal they had a test wether the people would be able to use the 3dmg which you, being used to the gear, mastered with ease. The other trainees seemed to struggle a bit but most got the hang of staying upright. There was only one boy -Eren you believed was his name- who would just fall over and over again.

After the little test you were told to run laps to get used to move with the harness on. You of course did not feel like you needed to since you had been wearing that thing for years not that you could tell them that.  
Running was definitely not one of your favourite things to do seeing as you specialised in speed and stealth rather than strengh and stamina. To say your stamina was bad was an underestimatement. Sure you could keep running longer than most normal civilians but compared to other thugs or soldiers you were out of breath way too soon.

When you were finally allowed to stop running and rest you slumped to the ground and leaned against the nearest wall. How good it felt to just sit there and rest you sore muscles a bit.  
It was then that you were told to clean yourselfes before dinner started. You noticed how many people had already given up after the first day of training. Sure it was hard but nothing one could not manage.

And once again you were sitting alone at a table. You were staring absentmindedly at your food when you heard footsteps approaching your table. This caused you to look up and you saw a small -but stil, taller than you- boy with blond hair coming in your direction. He looked unsure what to say or do but started speaking nonetheless.

"Ehrm... I thought you seemed lonely so I just... ehm.. came over to talk a bit... Would you mind if I-"  
"Get lost." You rudely interrupted him. You did not need nor want company at all.  
"But I-"  
"I told you to get lost and leave me the fuck alone." You spoke louder this time and he visibly flinched.  
"I don't need anyone to socialize with. I sure as hell don't want friends so go and annoy someone else!" You continued.

"You are afraid of getting hurt if you leave people near you, aren't you?"  
"Hah?" Was your confused answer to his questuion.  
"You probably were hurt from someone close to you in the past that's why you push people away from you. You don't want that to happen to you again, right?" He asked though it sounded more like a demand. You wondered how he could change from the small scared boy to this demanding one.

You started thinking about his words. They couldn't possibly be true, could they? You had never thought about it that way and part of you was believing that it was the reason why you never wanted to socialize. Somewhere deep inside you really felt lonely but until now you had pushed that feeling away telling yourself that it was stupid to think you would need company.

Your silence seemed to tell him that his assumptions were correct and he sat down beside you.  
"My name's Armin Arlert. You are (f/n) (l/n), right? You were quite good at the 3dmg test today. I heard you were one of the best! Nice to meet you." He introduced himself.  
You only 'hmm'ed as an answer and turned to your food again. It was strange to eat together with someone else but you found yourself actually enjoying it. Armin kept trying to converse with you even though your answers were short and mostly contained only one word. He was happy that you actually answered him instead of ignoring him how he thought you would.

When dinner time was over he stood up.  
"It was nice talking to you, (f/n). Why don't you come and sit with Eren, Mikasa and me tomorrow? I'm sure it would be nice having you as company!" 

The boy had managed to crack you cold mask which you used to protect yourself with. You looked up at him with a small but genue smile and answered:  
"Yeah, it'd be nice." Before standing up yourself, bringing away your dishes and leaving the room.

Armin remained in his spot for a short amount of time not believing what he saw. He was stunned that the cold and rude you had just smiled at him even though you seemed annoyed the whole almost one-sided conversation long.

The next morning you were eating breakfast at the same table as Armin and his friends. But you did not feel like you belonged to the group you might be sitting at the same table but the three people talked to each other and you just sat there next to them in complete silence. That was until Armin decided to bring you into the conversation.

"Hey, (f/n), you don't happen to have any tipps for Eren how to stay upright during the retry of the test yesterday, do you? He has been having some difficulties and I thought you might be able to help him since you were so good..."  
You looked at Armin and then at Eren who was sitting opposite of you. The brown-haired boy had a hopeful glimmer in his green eyes. You sighed before answering.

"Try to image a point in your body where all you weight is. Shift that point to the middle. If you manage that you should be fine. It's kind of like standing on one leg. It's easy once you understand how it works..."

Eren had a thoughtful look on his face after that. He seemed to be thinking about what you had said then he smiled.  
"Thanks, (f/n)! I'll try that, I think I know what you mean."

When Eren had to retake his test you were standing next to your new 'friend' Armin and watching. Surprisingly Eren managed to stay with his head up for some time before he lost his balance, fell and hung upside down. He begged to be allowed to try again when Keith spoke.

"Wagner, give your equipment to Jäger and let him try again."

As soon as Eren was lifted up again he stayed upright with ease. He seemed more than happy about his accomplishment.

"Your equpiment was faulty. I didn't know these parts could rost. I'll have to add it to the list to be checked. You are good to go."

If possible Eren's smile widened upon hearing these words and he fistpumped. Keith simply started heading away from the scene. And your day of training continued.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, I suck at finding chapter titles or titles in general... Anyway, i just wanted to say thank you for reading so far and that if you have any ideas for this story feel free to share them with me :3 Maybe they fit somewhere in the story line
> 
> EDIT: Yeah, I removed the Chapter titles because 1) they sound stupid  
>  2) I couldn't find any   
>  and 3) they are pretty useless anyway.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I kinda wrote this one and chapter 5 but forgot to update it on here. GENIUS~

Your day of training continued with combat practice. The sun shone brightly upon the wide open area where you had been running laps the previous day.

The ground was dried out due to the lack of rain these past days. Your brown boots were covered in a thin layer of dust. It was a little too hot for your liking and you wished to be allowed to sit down under the shade of a tree, but that was something you couldn’t even hope for.

You forced yourself to pay attention to the matter at hand. The trainees were supposed to practice hand to hand combat in groups of two. Commander Shardis was currently listing the pairs to train together.  
“Eren Jäger and Reiner Braun; Mikasa Ackermann and (f/n) (l/n); Connie Springer and…”

After you had heard your name and the one of your partner -Mikasa- you stopped listening to Keith. You then made your way to the black-haired beauty with the red scarf.  
‘How does she even manage to wear that thing? It is way too hot to be wearing a freaking scarf!’ you thought.

“So, what are we supposed to do? I didn’t even listen to half what he was saying…” you told Mikasa while shedding your jacket in hopes to cool your body down. It did not do much against the heat, but at least it was slighty cooler now. Right now you wished it would start raining out of nowhere. Too bad it wouldn’t happen, seeing that there was not one cloud in sight.

“One of us has this wooden dagger” she told you holding up said object “and has to try to hold it to the others throat while the other tries to take the dagger away…”

‘Sounds easy enough’ you thought and took a few steps back to create some space between you two. You got into your fighting stance. Legs slighty spread apart for a better balance and fists in front of your face.

Mikasa also readied herself. You waited for her to make the first move. She started running towards you while clutching the dagger tightly in her right hand. Her black hair was slighty pushed back from the wind rushing through it.

Your partner drew nearer and nearer, but you waited until there were only centimeters left between you two. That was when you sprang into action. Moving to the side and out of the way of the dagger, you gripped around her wrist and moved your left foot into her path. She tripped over your foot and stumbled a little, but managed to steady herself and freed her captured wrist.

You did not hesitate to start attacking her. You lifted up your right foot and kicked the black-haired girl in the stomach with incredible speed. She brought both her hands to the hurt area covering it while leaning slightly forward.

Your opponent was about to recover when you grapped her neck and pushed her to the ground. The next thing you did was sit atop of her to prevent her from moving. Mikasa struggled which caused you to push her farther onto the dirty ground.  
You wondered how you were going to get the dagger, since she was lying on her arms and the dagger was under her stomach.

“Are you giving up yet or do I have to use force to get the dagger from you?” you asked Mikasa.  
She was silent for quite some time. Suddenly the girl started struggling again, but thanks to your fast reflexes you managed to stay on top of her and press her to the ground even harder.

“… Fine” Mikasa finally accepted her defeat and gave up. You then stood up and started brushing off the dust from your knees. The raven-haired girl also stood up. Her whole shirt as well as her trousers were dusty and dirty.

She then lightly tossed the wooden dagger in your direction and you caught it without a problem. Again you both got ready to fight. You analyzed her stance in hope to find weak spots.

Mikasa had her feet shoulder width apart and they were firmly planted on the ground while her left one was a little ahead of the right one. She slighty bended forward and her hands were curled into tight fists.

 

~

 

You were sitting at a table in the cafeteria and every single one of your muscles ached. Your head was laying on said wooden object and your eyes were about to close. To say your day of training was exhausting was an understatement. After the combat training you had to do endurance training. Then you had to clean the whole campus.

You felt like you could go to sleep then and there, but you decided against it since sleeping at the table would cause your back to hurt in the morning and that would definitely not help during training.

When you heard footsteps and noticed that someone was sitting down next to you, you looked up. It was your blond friend Armin. He looked just as tired and worn out as you. He started eating…  
‘Eating? Right, I’m here to fill my stomach’ you had completely forgotten about your food. You would have facepalmed, if it didn’t hurt so much to move a single muscle. Against the protests of your sore muscles you began eating your meal.

“Where are Eren and Mikasa? Aren’t they always with you?” you tried conversing with Armin. He stared at you before looking down again.

“I don’t know… and I’m not always running around with those two.” The blond boy answered before continuing his meal. You two sat there in a slightly awkward silence before you spoke again.

“Armin? I’m really glad that you came to me and didn’t go away when I told you. I really enjoy having you as company.”  
Your friend looked shocked at those words. He had never imagined that you to say something like that. You were known as one of the two lone wolves under the trainees after all. The boy looked at you with big blue eyes as you stood up, took your tray and put it away.

After you had changed and prepared for the night, you let yourself fall on your bed and wished you'd never have to move a single muscle of yours again. You made yourself comfortable and laid your head down on your pillow.  
It did not take long until you were fast asleep.


	5. Chapter 5

It was the day after the graduation. During those last 3 years of hellish training you had come to know your fellow trainees better. You got along with Mikasa and Eren just fine though you still did not aknowledge anyone other than Armin as your friend. The blond boy had somehow managed to tear down your protective shell and bore his way into your heart. You had even made sure you got a ranking close to his in the final tests. Not that you cared about that anyway. You had set your heart onto the Survey Corps so you did not need have a certain rank.

The trainees -including you- had been told to clean the wall and to make sure the defensive cannons were in a good shape. the others were all talking but you did not take part in their conversation. You were too busy reminscining your first day of 3dmg training.

The weather was nice on that day. It was neither raining nor was the sun shining too brightly so that it would have been hot. Everyone except you and Shardis was nervous about trying the gear for the first time.

The trainees were all standing in a small clearing in the forest which had previously been used for stamina training.  
You looked around for the best places to shoot your hooks at. To your right were only smaller trees but on your left side was one that looked perfect for easy maneuvering.

The commander was talking about going on and on on how to use the gear. You of course had other things to do than to do than listen to him so you looked intendly at your blond friend who was standing right next to you.  
He seemed to be listening to each and every word that came out of Keith's mouth. You decided it would probably be best to start paying attention to the old man standing in front.

"And that is how you use the gear. Any questions?" he askes with his loud and booming voice. None of your fellow soldiers-to-be made any noise nor movement so the instructor spoke again.

"No? Then I'll now proceed in telling you your next task. You are to try using the gear. When you are sure that you are able to control it you are to cut the necks of these titans dummies out.They are hidden somewhere in this forest. You are to return as soon as you see a green flare gun signal."

You had been the best when it came to maneveuring but you had not been used to cutting out the napes so your cuts were either shallow or you had lost your balance for a moment. After some tries however you had gotten used to it and been able to make clear and deep cuts.

"And what do you think about this, (f/n)?" were you pulled out of you thoughts from Armin who looked at you expectingly.

You blinked a few times before telling him  
"Sorry, Armin. I was somewhere else with my thoughts and didn't listen... What were you saying?"

 

Armin let out a deep sigh starting to repeat what he had said. That was when you both saw some kind of lightning and heard a defening loud "BOOM".

You were blown off the wall together with the other trainees.  
Thanks to your reflexes you managed to get a hold on the wall with the hooks of your gear.

'What the heck was that' you asked yourself before you looked up.  
What you saw made your mind completely blank and left you in shock for some time.

It was a gigantic face which looked over the wall at Trost district. The face lacked any skin and had small eyes one almost couldn't see.

It was Eren's voice which pulled you out of your state of shock.

"It is the Colossal Titan! We have to take it down before it can destroy the wall! This is our chance!" the brown-haired boy yelled while charging at the naked giant.

You however did not start to make your way to the titan but scaled down the wall to report and ask for instructions.

 

All of the freshly graduated soldiers were in the military HQ to get instructions from Captain Kitts Verman. Needless to say you did not like that man, you hated him with a fiery passion instead.

He looked more scared than anyone else. Even your fellow trainees did not look as freaked out as he did and they did not even fight a real titan once. Even from his voice you could tell that he was scared out of his mind. It was by far higher than it should be and caused you to get a headache. You really wished you could strangle him so you'd never have to hear his voice again. Sadly you couldn't so you just stood there clenching your fists.  
“Just like in training split up in your individual squads. You will be under Garrison command. Your duties are to assist inproviding supplies, communications and sweeping up the titan! The first line of will be the frontline unit of the Garrison. The second line will be the cadet squads under our command. The rearguard will be the Garrison’s elite units. We’be already received word that the vanguard has been annihilated. The outer gate was destroyed and titans have encroached upon the city. This means that the armored titan might show up any moment to breach the inner gate.”  
You heard some of the other cadets mumbling things along the lines of “No way…” but you yourself stayed still and remained calm.  
“Silence!” was Kitts Verman’s voice heard again.  
“The frontline guards are already in combat. There is but one goal in this defense operation: Defend wall Rose until every civilian has evacuated. Also, in case you forgot let me remind you that desertion is capital offense. Vow on your hearts to devote your lives.”  
‘Hah, I bet you are the first one to chicken out and run away with your tail between your legs. I’m sure you will be crying and calling for your mother to come rescue you while doing that.’ You thought.

“Dismissed!”

Finally he had stopped screeching with his unbearable voice. And all of your fellow soldiers saluted an began scattering around in a hurry to get to their positions.  
You were in a squad with Armin, Eren and some others whose names you didn't bother to remember. Your squad was part of the second line, whose task was to eliminate any titan the front couldn't and to keep the titans busy until the elite squad had been able to evacuate the city.

Your little group was standing on one of the many red-brownish rooftops. Your place was right next to Armin and you could sense that he was scared and was trying his hardest not to seem like it. Eren noticed that too.  
“Hey, Armin”, he spoke,“if we prove ourselves here in this first beattle, before even entering the Recon Corps, surely they’ll promote us right up the ladder!”  
Eren flashed Armin a reassuring grin and Armin answered with one of his own.  
“Yeah! without a doubt.”  
The other squad members soon joined the conversation but you blocked it out. You wanted to focus on the situation at hand and you did not have any interest in having a conversation with your squad to begin with anyway.  
That was when you got the signal to move out and as soon as Eren gave the signal you all jumped down and into action. You were falling when you pulled the trigger and your cables shot out. The hooks managed to grab hold on some buildings where previously townspeople had been living. You then let the gear pull you on another roof where you started into a sprint to not waste gas on flying.  
You could feel the wind brushing against your skin and through you (h/c), (h/l) hair. Your brown boots made a clanking sound against the roof tiles and your body cast a shadow on them making their redish-brown colour slightly darker.

After some time however you changed to the 3dmg since you came into the area in which the naked giants roamed and it'd be easier to react if you were already in midair. The wind pulled on your hair and jacket and you would have shivered from the cold if you were not moving so much.

It didn't take long until your group spotted the first titan or rather it spotted you. And as soon as it noticed you it leapt forward to catch you in his jaws. You managed to get yourself out of the danger zone fast enough and the titan slammed face first into a church tower.

You all landed on a roof while Armin’s landing was not what you would call gracefull. It looked more like he almost faceplanted onto the tiles. Your little group looked back to the Aberrant.  
The naked giant had a light blond boy between his teeth. His name was something that started with T... Or was it M? You didn't remember and frankly you didn't care. The titan then slightly lifted his head so it was looking at the bright blue sky. After that it swallowed your comrade in one piece.  
The others all stared in shock as the giant then simply walked away without a care in the world. Eren soon regained is senses and shouted after the titan.  
“How dare you motherfucker? How do you fucking dare eat Thomas!"

So you were right and his name did indeed start with a T. Eren then sped away with his gear. The others shouted after him not to go alone but the brown haired boy did not even seem to hear them. Your comrades then followed after the young man, who was blinded by hate. You also jumped back into battle to keep an eye on Armin. You did not want your only friend to get eaten and taken away from you.  
Eren and the rest of the squad spent more gas to come forward faster. Not wanting to lose Armin you also sped up though you were by far more careful. You still were lagging behind your group and Eren as well as Armin had already vanished from your sight. Something caught the attention of the others and they seemed to have lost their focus for a short amount of time. That however was enough for the titans to get them and you watched as one after another of your fellow soldiers got eaten.

You looked around frantically in hopes to spot Armin and your almost-friend. You just couldn’t seem to find them. You almost lost hope of ever seeing them again when you heard Armin's scream. You turned your head into the direction of the sound. And there your friend was sitting on a roof in the distance. In front of the roof however was a titan. The monster looked like an old man. It had gray hair and a long beard in the same colour.

Without any hesitation you pulled the trigger of your gear. The cables instantly shot forward and latched onto the wall of a four-story house. You jumped and let yourself be pulled into the direction of your friend who was still in a state of shock.

A titan from underneath you jumped up to catch you in its giant jaws but you swiftly dodged before continuing the way to your friend. Sure there was the possibility of the titan chasing you but your priority right now was to get Armin out of danger. Besides it would be easy to outrun the cruel beast.

When you reached the roof Armin was on you rushed over to him without wasting a single second. You put your hands on his shoulders and shook him.

"Armin! Hey, Armin! What's wrong?"  
You asked still shaking him in hopes it would pull him out of his shocked state. No such luck.

The titan began moving his hand towards you two and you immediately took blonde's hand, pulled him up on his feet and began running away from the naked giant while still pulling an almost limb Armin after you.

However your run was soon cut short since the you two came to the edge of the red-brown roof. You turned around to see the titan slowly extending its arm towards you and your companion.

You were sure Armin wouldn't respond if you told him to use his gear and run away so you did the only thing that came to your mind:  
You pulled Armin close to you, took him under his armpits and pulled the trigger of your own gear.

It was hard gliding through the air while holding your friend. It would've been easier if you could have given him a piggyback ride but he'd have to hold onto you himself and you doubted the blonde boy would've done that.

As fast as possible you carried Armin away from the bearded titan. You managed to gain more and more distance to the titan and when you were sure you were far enough you landed on the nearest roof.

Your heart was pounding and your breathing heavy. You were not used to carry heavy things while maneuvering and you were sure your muscles were going to kill you tomorrow. If a titan did not manage to do so today that is.

It soon started raining and you looked up at the grey clouds. Many droplets of water landed on your face and hair. It was only a matter of minutes until your clothes were drenched.  
Knowing that it was deadly not to pay attention to your surroundings you looked out for any giants. And of course one just had to make its way over to the two of you.

Not wanting to have to carry Armin even farther you took off in the direction of the titan. You pulled your swords out and got ready for battle.  
As soon as you got into its reach the titan swatted its big hand at you. The titan seemed to be around 8 meters tall and a little faster than the rest.

Even if it was fast you were still faster and easily dodged the blow. Without hesitating you went in for the neck and with an incredible speed you sliced out the neck while spinning. Your fighting style resembled Levi's a lot.

You gracefully landed on the nearest rooftop while the naked giant fell to the ground and landed with a loud  
'THUD'

'They always make it sound so difficult to kill a titan. It is actually pretty easy', you thought.

You looked around once again. Armin seemed to have somewhat recovered but he still looked shaken. You were relieved that your blonde friend was paying attention to his surroundings again.

When you looked to the left you spotted other soldiers who all seemed to be resting on a roof. Thinking it would be easier to make sure Armin would be unharmed and alive you decided that you'd take him to the group of cadets.


	6. Chapter 6

"Jean." You calmly spoke upon arriving. Said person was sitting on the roof, but turned his head to look at you when hearing his name.

"(f/n)? Armin? Where are the Suicidal Bastard and the others?"  
The tall male asked. He looked concerned, stressed out and really tired.

"I don't know they sped away and I later found Armin alone."  
You told him while your blonde friend remained silent. He had maneuvered to the small group himself but refused to talk to you.

When Jean looked at the small boy standing behind you Armin looked down and slowly walked over to a wall before sliding down against it.  
You looked into the distance to see many of those ugly creatures that continued to ruin the lives of innocent people.

"What are you all doing here?"  
You asked Jean, still looking into the destroyed and bloody city.

"We finally received the order to retreat, but we can’t get over the wall because we’re out of gas. We’re all going to die.” The tall male told you.

'They gave the signal to retreat?' You asked yourself. You probably had not noticed because you had been too focused to make sure you and Armin stayed alive in this hell hole.

Jean didn’t even seem to notice that he did not have your attention anymore since he continued. It didn’t really sound like a conversation, it was more Jean simply wallowing in self-pity.  
“Thanks to these fucking cowards…”  
It was then that Connie –or Baldie how you called him- decided to join in the conversation.

“You mean the supply squad? What happened to them? Are they all dead?” The small boy asked slightly enraged.  
“They probably lost their will to fight.” The tall realist answered “I understand how they feel. But I doubt they’ve abandoned their mission and barricaded themselves away in the HQ. I’m guessing the titans have them surrounded which is why they can’t supply us with gas.”

This answer seemed to upset the bald boy even further as he nearly screamed in reply.  
“That’s exactly why we have no choice but to go all out on those titans! Sitting here and waiting to die doesn’t make any difference! The titans are going to surround us too!”  
You silently agreed with Connie though you really couldn’t judge Jean since you still had plenty of gas to fight with. Jean on the other hand had next to nothing left and you weren’t even sure whether he’d be able to get to HQ with his 3dmg. And walking sure wasn’t an option with titans roaming around the city.

“If we kept running away from them, we’d just end up wasting what little gas we have left.” Connie continued “Once we lose our agility, it’ll be really over!”  
At that point you blended out the conversation between those two and were starting to wonder whether you should just take Armin and carry him over the wall to safety. You were emotionally way too dependent on the blonde boy but there wasn’t anything you either could or wanted to do to change that fact.

Absentmindedly you watched Potato Girl trying to encourage the others to take action. All of her attempts were futile though. Nobody showed even the slightest reaction.  
You took notice that he rain had ceased but the grey clouds still lingered over your head. The sun barely broke through the thick blanket of clouds.

The sound of someone running on the roof tiles pulled you out of your thoughts. It was none other than the black-haired beauty and number one trainee of the 104th trainee squad –Mikasa Ackermann. She was making her way over to the blonde girl whose graduation rank is four.

“Annie!” Mikasa shouted before coming to a stop right in front of the cold girl. “I think I understand the situation and I apologize for bothering you, but have you seen Eren’s unit?”  
The smaller girl immediately answered with the same indifferent look as always on her face.

“No, and I have not seen anyone climb the wall either.”  
It was time for a big and brawny boy to speak up.

“Armin’s over there, though.” He informed while pointing to his left with his thump. Mikasa immediately turned and looked at your friend, who was still slumped against a wall.  
The black haired girl called his name and he visibly flinched, but did not look up. You as well as the oriental girl made your way over to the blonde. Mikasa kneeled down before Armin while you stood behind her and watched your friend with a concerned and gentle look on your face.

“Armin, are you hurt? Feeling okay?” she inquired while gently grasping the blonde by his shoulders.  
The only thing she got as an answer was Armin lowering his head even more. He looked like he wanted to just glide through the wall and vanish from her sight.  
After not receiving an answer Mikasa stood up and looked around.  
“Where’s Eren?” Not a word left the blondes lips and he still did not lift his head.  
“Armin?” upon hearing his name again he finally looked up. His eyes were wide and tears were pouring out of them. He was gritting his teeth.

It took some time before Armin hesitantly answered  
"Our unit… The 34th cadet unit… Thomas Wagner. Nic Tius. Mylius Zeramuski. Mina Carolina. Eren Jäger. All five of them have fulfilled their duty and died heroic deaths in battle!" at the time he ended his little speech he had almost been shouting.

'So Eren's gone now, huh?' you thought. You may not have called him your friend, you were a little sad that he died though.  
Everyone else had looks of shock and disbelief on their face. Eren had been one of the most well-known members of the trainees after all. Everyone knew of his determination to kill titans.

You looked over to Mikasa. She had to feel terrible now. After all she had just lost her only remaining family.  
Armin was apologizing over and over again. He probably felt responsible for Eren’s death. You had not been there so you couldn’t say whether he really was but the sight of your best friend in a state like this broke your heart.

“I’m sorry, Mikasa...” His sentence was interrupted by a sob and Armin lowered his head again “Eren died in my stead…” he looked at the ground now as another sob erupted from his chest “I couldn’t do anything! I’m so sorry.”

Mikasa then put her hand gently on Armin’s to calm him down. You were astonished that she herself managed to remain so calm and collected. Upon hearing his name coming from her lips Armin lifted his head once again.

“Calm down. This isn’t the time to be emotional.” The black haired girl stood up and pulled Armin on his feet. “Stand up.”

The girl from Shiganshina then started walking along the roof to its edge.  
“Marco.” The boy who you assumed went by this name looked up when he heard it.  
“If we manage to take out the titans around HQ, we can replenish our gas supplies and climb the wall. Does that sound correct?” Mikasa asked him. The freckled ravenette answered with an unconfident “Yeah…” he then however continued his sentence “But even if you’re with us, there’s just too many—“  
Mikasa interrupted him with a resolute “We can do it!”  
“I’m strong. Stronger than all of you.” She raised her right sword while speaking those words.

“Extremely strong. I can kill all those titans there. Even if I’m alone. You’re either incompetent or spineless cowards.” Mikasa then lowered her sword so that it pointed at the group of soldiers.  
“How pathetic. You can sit here and suck on your fingers. Yeah, do that.”  
The others first wore an expression of shock then they started to shout.  
“Mikasa, have you lost your mind!”

“You really think you can take all of them down alone?”  
Such comments were directed at her. The girl with the red scarf answered with a simple.

“If I can’t, then I’ll just die. But if I win, I live. Unless I fight, I cannot win.”  
And with those words she jumped from the roof and flew full speed ahead in the direction of the supply building.

Jean reacted quickly by grumbling to himself “Your oratory skills are what’s pathetic. Was the point to shock us into action? It’s all your fault, Eren!”  
He then raised his voice as well as one of his metallic swords.  
“Hey! Were we trained to let our comrades fight alone?! At this rate we’re going to turn out as spineless cowards!” And with that he, Baldie and Potato Girl began running toward the edge of the reddish roof and followed Mikasa.

You, Armin, Annie and some others followed suit. You heard insults being thrown at your comrades from Sasha and after that you heard a loud battle cry. When you looked back you saw almost everyone was following Mikasa and Jean.

The black haired girl began killing titans left and right. Jean led the others over the rooftops so they could save what little gas they had left.

You then saw Mikasa fall.  
'Her tanks are empty?! Tch, how stupid can she be?' you thought.

It was when you saw a titan near the place where your black haired almost-friend fell that you shot after her as fast as a lightning.

Then you saw another titan run Mikasa's way. A 15 meter class. It had dark brown hair that reached its shoulders and pointy ears. You had never seen a titan like that before.

'Shit.' you cursed in your head.  
'Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit.' you chanted. You did not want Armin to have to deal with losing another precious friend. He'd be devastated.

What you saw next let your eyes widen in surprise. The 15 meter class had just punched the other titan in the face and sent him flying.

After that it let out a deafening roar. In hopes to find Mikasa still alive you dived into the street she had fallen in. By now there were quite a few specks of sunlight on the ground seeing as the clouds finally began clearing up.

And there she was standing. You opened your arms, hugged her and pulled her with you into the air. As soon as you landed on the roof you let go of her. Armin and Baldie soon landed next to the two of you.  
“You two alright?” Connie asked and you and Mikasa just nodded.  
“We must get going!” Baldie informed and as if on cue another 15 meter titan came towards your group of four.

“Shit! This is bad! There are two 15 meter class titans.” you heard Connie again. ‘Does he have to comment everything’ you asked yourself. Your day was stressing enough as it was; you did not need someone to constantly make stupid remarks on top of that.  
“No… That titan’s…” Mikasa began to say but was cut off by another roar from the giant that had just saved her.

The two titans then began some sort of competition on who could ‘shout’ louder. The titan with the pointy ears then got into a fighting stance and it did not take long until the head of the other titan crashed into a tower, which stood at least 100 meters away.  
“It finished the titan off? It knew its weak spot!” Armin said astounded.  
“Yeah. It also killed the titan that was going after Mikasa…” you informed him and he looked at you with a wide eyes and his mouth hanging slightly open.  
“Doesn’t matter now!” Connie rushed the group. “We must get going before it comes this way!”

Your blond buddy however had something different in mind.  
“No. It doesn’t care about us. It could’ve attacked us long ago”  
“It seemed like it had an idea of how to perform hand-to-hand combat, too.” You agreed.  
Mikasa was the next to be heard “What was that?!” she asked.  
Connie’s answer came quick. “Just consider it an abnormal. There’s just too much we don’t know. Anyway we must hurry to the HQ!”  
The bald boy was about to set off before he was stopped once again. This time however it was your voice that prevented him from doing anything.  
“Wait!” you commanded “Mikasa’s out of gas!”

“Huh?! Are you fucking kidding me?! What are we gonna do without you?” before Connie could say anything more Armin began changing his gas cylinders with those from Mikasa.  
“It’s obvious what we need to do. I don’t have much gas left… You can take mine”  
Mikasa interrupted him by saying his name but the blonde simply ignored her and kept talking.

“There is no other choice! The gas is useless on me. But please use it carefully this time. You must save everyone.”  
Mikasa seemed to be deeply in thought about something while Armin worked on her 3dmg.  
“Alright. Your gear is good to go. I also gave you all of my blades. Just leave this one with me. Now that I think about it I don’t want to be eaten alive.” Your friend finished and took a broken blade in his right hand.  
The piece of metal was soon taken out of his hand and thrown off the edge by none other than you.

“Like hell you’re going to be eaten alive! What do you think I’ve been here for all this time? I’ve got enough gas left to climb the wall by myself but I’m friendly enough to stay here to make sure you’re alright so don’t you dare throw your life away like that!” you scolded him. It took you all your will to not slap him for thinking you’d leave him there to die.

Mikasa agreed “We’re not leaving you behind.”  
Armin looked hesitant “B-But with so many titans you can’t possibly carry me around.”  
Mikasa, Connie and you paid his protest no mind. Instead you started running towards the roof’s edge once again. You grabbed his hand and pulled him along, so you could carry him to the HQ.

Before you could reach the edge your friend looked back and pulled his wrist out of your grip.  
“Armin!” you looked at him with a not understanding look. ‘Why won’t he let me help him? Does he not trust me enough to let me carry him along?’ the thought saddened you. You trusted Armin fully and saw him as your best friend. So why couldn’t he place a little trust in you? You chain of thought was soon interrupted and proven wrong when your buddy spoke up.

“Wait! Listen to me! I’ve got a suggestion.”  
Mikasa and Connie turned around and looked at him expectantly.  
“It’s a three-person operation, so you should decide whether you carry it out.” He made a short pause. “I know it’s crazy, but couldn’t we use that titan?”  
Connie looked at him in disbelief “That titan?”

Armin then proceeded in further explaining his plan. “It’s only attacking other titans. It seems uninterested in humans. I was thinking of luring it to the supply tower somehow. If it handles the other titans for us, we could get everyone out of this alive!”  
“Lure it? How would we even pull that off?” Connie questioned.  
Armin turned around too look at the pointy eared and well built aberrant again, before giving an answer to Baldie’s question.

“I think it acts on instinct. If you defeat the titans in it’s vicinity, then it’ll start looking for other titans. Most likely it will move towards the titans swarming around headquarters.”

“How could we do something so risky based on a mere guess?!” Connie began shouting but you ignored him and put your hand on your friends shoulder. You looked into his sky-blue eyes and shot him a reassuring smile.  
“I’ll do it. If you say it will happen then I trust you that it will, Armin. Besides if it really works then we could eliminate all the titans around HQ in one swoop.”  
Your friend seemed somewhat relieved to have your support. Mikasa soon agreed. “It’s at least worth a shot.”  
Connie still couldn’t believe it “Are you serious?! You want to side with a titan to fight other titans?”

“Exactly.” You told him with a look of pure seriousness.  
Connie then began smirking “It won’t even be funny if we fail.”  
Armin began smiling as well “But if we succeed, everyone will be saved.”  
“Yes, and we will not fail.” You agreed and you and Mikasa took off running. Armin followed behind you two and Connie also started running after complaining some more.  
You and Mikasa both jumped and switched to the maneuver gear at the same time.  
“Mikasa!” said girl looked over at you “I’ll take the left and you finish on the right side, okay?”

“Yeah.” Was her answer before she took a turn to the right and was closing in on her first titan.

‘It’s now or never, (f/n)!’ you told yourself and made a sharp turn to the left before landing on another rooftop. Running over it, you soon spotted the second titan you would ever kill.

You were closing in on it fast. After all speed was your forte. You soon switched to the three dimensional maneuver. As you were getting nearer and nearer to the titan you pulled out both your blades. You could see the reflection of your shiny (e/c) eyes in them but soon focused on your prey again.

You shot your hook onto a building and let yourself fall at the level of the titans knees. When you were only few meters away from it you shot your hook again. This time however you aimed for the shoulder and let yourself be pulled upwards with great force. You were catapulted over the head of the titan and began spinning with your sharp blades still in hand. You let yourself be pulled towards the earth from gravity while still spinning and got a clean cut on the nape of the titan.

You then landed gracefully onto a rooftop. After you straightened yourself you looked for your next victim. It did not take long until you spotted it – or rather them. It was a group of three titans. Two four meter class titans and one that was seven meter tall.  
You started to speed up again and spend more and more gas to accelerate. You hooked onto the shoulder onto the seven meter titan and came at it with such speed, that it did not have any time to react at all. You killed it while performing a twist dive. You had taught tricks like these to yourself to show off and intimidate people in the underground. It didn’t work as well as you had hoped but learning them was fun nonetheless.  
Next were the two four meter classes. You let yourself drop further to the ground still spinning and around 30 centimeter before you hit the ground you let yourself be pulled upward again. You neared the first titan and smirked at its dumb face. You killed it with ease and soon the other one was felled as well.

Your killing spree continued on and it didn’t take long until your kill count reached 15 solo kills. It was slightly scaring you how much fun you had killing those beasts off, but you shrugged it off and landed on the nearest roof. When you looked around you saw that your ‘titan-friend’ was on his way to the supply station already and you decided to follow.

You soon caught up with Mikasa, Connie and Armin. All three of them looked fine, though Connie looked worn out. ‘Probably from carrying Armin around with him’ you thought. While running along the rooftops you knocked against your gas cylinders to check how much gas you had left.  
“Around 15% I think. Should be more than enough to get me to HQ” you said to yourself.  
“What was that, (f/n)? I couldn’t hear you over the wind!” Connie asked you almost shouting.

“Nothing, I just thought aloud!” you quickly answered. Armin then spoke up and pointed at some building not too far away.  
“Guys, look there it is! And the aberrant is there already!”  
Looking ahead you speed up again to get enough force to break through a window of the supply tower. And that’s exactly what you did. After breaking through the glass, which shattered with a loud 'clash', you rolled on the floor and came back into a standing position.

After you landed Mikasa and Connie with Armin, who was let down, as soon as they touched the ground. Connie’s face immediately lit up with a smile as he knocked against his gas cylinders.

“Woah, that was close! We did it. We just barely made it! They’re completely empty now.” Baldie informed with glee.  
“Mikasa?” you only noticed Jean standing there with a dumbfounded look on his face when he spoke up. You all turned towards him.

“You’re… all alive?” while Jean was thinking he was hallucinating, Connie was clapping Armin on the shoulder and earning some “Ouch”es from him.  
Then the small and bald boy spoke up again.

“Guys, that titan over there is an abnormal that slaughters other titans! It’s not even interested in humans.” He informed while pointing at the pointy eared titan.  
“If we play our cards right, we can all get outta here alive!”  
Soon doubtful remarks were heard from all the room. Jean however was the one who spoke up for everyone.

“Depending on a titan? That’s more illusional than any dream I had.”  
“It isn’t a dream.” Mikasa informed “I don’t care if it’s an abnormal or whatever. Just let it rampage here for as long as possible.” As if to underline what she said the titan let out a loud roar outside. After it quieted down the ravenette continued.  
“Realistically, that’s our best option for survival.”  
“It’s okay” Connie supported “That titan’s stronger than average. They can’t take over the building while it’s rampaging outside.”  
You decided to speak up.

“Say, Jean, even though you have all reached the HQ, why are you still up here and not in the basement filling up on gas? Don’t tell me it’s really full of titans.”  
Jean only needed to look at you and you had the answer to your question.  
“So there really are titans in there, huh? Hey, Armin, you don’t happen to have a plan to get rid of them, do you? The one with our dear titan buddy outside worked quite well.” You told your blond friend.

~

“So you want seven of us to kill the titans while the others lure them in and blind them with these old guns?” you asked your best bud.  
“That’s basically it.” He answered.  
“Sounds easy enough. So who’s gonna be part of the seven lucky ones?” you enquired.  
“The seven people should be the most physically capable ones. You’ll have to shoulder the burden of everyone’s life’s… I’m sorry.”  
“No problem.” The blond, big and brawny guy from earlier spoke up again.  
“Whoever fails, all of us will die. The risk is the same.” ‘Straight to the point as always, eh Annie?’ You thought.

After that you pretty much filtered out only the important information, which wasn’t much anymore since most of the plan had been discussed already.  
The ones to take out the titans were Mikasa, Annie, Bertholdt, Reiner – the big and brawny dude, Connie, Sasha and Jean.  
It didn’t take long until the operation started and you were let down in the big lift with the others. On Marco’s command you all readied your guns and aimed at the titan nearest to you. The naked giants all began to turn around and came nearer and nearer to you.

Between you and the beast was only about a meter space left and you could smell its horrid breath. ‘How about you brush your teeth you ugly, disgusting thing’ you thought.  
Its face was way too close for comfort but you waited to hear the signal before you shot.  
“Ready” you put your pointer finger on the trigger. The titan was so near now that you almost touched its eye with the barrel of your gun.  
“Fire!” and with that command a hell of bullets was let loose on the giants; blinding them for a short period of time. The others jumped into action as soon as the fire stopped.

Mikasa and Annie killed their titans without a problem. Jean almost missed but managed to cut the nape out. Reiner and Bertholdt did their job too. And Connie and Sasha… they missed both and the titans started turning towards them.  
Potato Girl began pleading and apologizing to the beast she was supposed to kill. Luckily for you all Annie and Mikasa managed to kill off both titans before anyone could be harmed. Now you all could stock up on gas again.

As you refilled your almost empty gas tanks you began wondering how your titan buddy outside was doing. You didn’t know why but somehow it was similar to someone you knew but you couldn’t put your finger on it. You abandoned the thought when you realized that both your gas cylinders were full now and you placed them back in your gear.  
‘Alright. I’m ready to leave this hellhole.’ You thought.

It felt good going outside again and by then the sun was shining again and not a cloud was in sight. You wanted to set off with your gear when you saw Mikasa and Armin standing on a roof looking at something. Having caught your interest you soon were standing next to them looking down at your titan buddy.  
“They’re eating it…” Armin was talking about the aberrant that helped you getting back the supply station. You somehow felt sorry for it. It helped you out so much and now it was getting eaten.

“It’s not regenerating?” your blonde friend wondered out loud. And that was when you noticed that there was no steam coming from its wounds like it was with any other titan.  
“I thought uncovering the truth about that titan might be the key to freeing ourselves from this desperate situation…” Mikasa said to no one in particular. Reiner answered though.

“I agree. If they just rip it to shreds like that, then we won’t have learned a single thing. We should get rid of those titans currently devouring it, and at least try to keep it alive.”  
You didn’t listen to anymore of the conversation since something else gained your attention. It was the aberrant that ate your squad member, whose name started with T… Thomas, was it?

Your titan buddy seemed to have noticed the other titan too, since it started roaring, throwing the other titans off it and attacking the newcomer. Your bud did not have arms anymore so it bit into the other giant’s neck and lifted it up.  
You –as well as your comrades- were shocked upon seeing this. Until just now the titan had been dying and now it was raging again with new found energy. Your ‘buddy’ as you called him attacked some smaller titans with the one in his mouth and then let go of it, letting out another deafening roar.

“Hey… what was that about helping it?” Jean asked, almost at a loss for words.  
Then your buddy fell on his knees and finally on the ground. Jean spoke up again.  
“Looks like it burned itself out. Whatever, let’s get going! There’s no way that monster’s on our side. Titans are titans.” He said while turning around to go. Noticing that nobody answered he once again turned to look at the fallen titan.

“Is that a human?” you asked, looking at your buddy’s nape. Out of it was emerging something that had a human shape. Or at least you thought that it looked like a human.  
Mikasa immediately recognized the being coming out of the titan’s remains and jumped down from the roof. As soon as she touched the ground she ran over to it and hugged it. She instantly checked for a heartbeat and upon finding one she went back to hugging it close and sobbing loudly.

You found a soft smile playing on your lips when seeing this reunion. You yourself were quite happy. After all the figure coming out of the titans nape was none other the presumed dead  
“Eren.”


End file.
